I've been a bit busy lately and mainly working on other people's projects, so I haven't had a lot to post lately, but I have been working on the R3 (RepRap Router) again. My laser-strap prototype has taken up residence in the new CNC room at Hamerspace and is now sporting new endstops and tool mounts including a boom for its powerful little flex shaft spindle. I got in a quick test of the tool mount and spindle last meeting and grabbed some video:
Here's some additional pics:
Next on my list of stuff I need to do for this prototype is to get the hold down system in place and mill the sacrificial top flat. I plan on embedding some extruded aluminum T-slot that works with 1/4" hex bots into the MDF work surface like the bigger CNC setup at the space and using standard woodworking hold down clamps for now and maybe design some milled or 3D printed ones as the project progresses.
I got to play around with a borrowed BeagleBone board to get some kernel stuff working for a friend. While playing around with it I decided to throw together an and a for the thing as well. The sled is pretty easy to figure out, but the enclosure takes a little more effort to put together, so I thought I'd do a quick write up outlining how to assemble it.
First off, peel the masking off all your laser cut parts.
Next, you'll mount the BeagleBone to the bottom using 14mm M3 bolts, M3 nuts, and 1/4" OD 1/4" high nylon standoffs. Make sure to mind the resistors on the back side of the board around the power connect (labeled R150 and R189).
Next, you need to partially thread all the remaining M3x14 bolts into the T-slots of the spanning pieces and the end caps. This is physically possible without assistance, but it's hard. You'll want to save yourself some time by using some scotch tape and securing the nuts in place before inserting the bolts.
Once this is done, you can slide in the bottom, sides, and top before finally tightening down the bolts. Don't overtighten the blots, the enclosure is all acrylic and it will crack under extreme stress.
Bottom Installed
Sides Installed
Top Installed and Bolts Tightened
Other Side After Assembly
You can simply leave the top off if you want easy access to the expansion headers. The will even fit with the top off:
Here are some additional pictures of the enclosure with the USB host and peripheral interfaces plugged in (notice that you can see the status LEDs above the peripheral connection):
Grab an including handy hex wrench from my store and you can grab all the design files and BOM from the .
You can grab a there as well, if you feel like your BeagleBone would like a little more of an open air prototyping environment. You can find the design files for the sled, BOM, and instructions on its Thingiverse entry .
